CN101401459B - call center starter - Google Patents

Abstract

The communication device sends a message to the server requesting a list of call center telephone numbers. The communication device receives the list of call center telephone numbers from the server and provides the list to the user.

Description

call center starter

technical field

Embodiments described herein relate to telephony devices in general and, more particularly, to obtaining updated call center phone numbers by telephony devices.

Background technique

The use of radiocommunication networks is rapidly becoming a part of the lives of more and more people around the world. A GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network is just one example of the many different types of wireless communication networks that have been implemented around the world.

Users of these networks often need to know where to go for support, such as technical support, customer support, etc. In some cases, users on a given network need to call their network operator for network and/or subscription related issues, or call the phone manufacturer (eg Sony Ericsson) for phone handset related issues. The phone numbers for these call centers may change frequently, or users will struggle to remember the multiple different call center numbers needed to obtain adequate support.

Contents of the invention

According to one aspect, a method may include sending a message from a phone to a server over a network requesting a list of call center phone numbers. The method may further comprise receiving the list of call center telephone numbers from the server via SMS or WAP and providing the list to the user.

Additionally, the message can be sent from the phone to the server via Short Message Service (SMS) or Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).

Additionally, the list of call center phone numbers may be received from the server via Short Message Service (SMS) or Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).

Additionally, the message may include the Mobile Network Code (MNC) and Mobile Country Code (MCC) associated with the phone.

Additionally, the message may further include an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number and phone model associated with the phone.

Additionally, the method further includes receiving a user request for an updated call center telephone number and sending the message to the server based on the user request.

Additionally, wherein providing the list to the user may include providing the list to the user through a graphical user interface associated with the phone.

In addition, the call center phone number list includes at least one phone manufacturer call center phone number or network operator call center phone number.

According to another aspect, a method may include receiving a request for a call center telephone number from a mobile station and retrieving the call center telephone number. The method may further include sending the call center telephone number to the mobile station via SMS or WAP.

Furthermore, the request for the call center telephone number can be received from the mobile station via Short Message Service SMS or Wireless Application Protocol WAP.

Additionally, the request for the call center telephone number may include the Mobile Network Code (MNC) and Mobile Country Code (MCC) associated with the mobile station.

Additionally, the request for the call center telephone number may further include an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number and telephone model associated with the mobile station.

Additionally, the call center phone number may be retrieved from memory based on one or more of MNC, MCC, IMEI, or phone model.

According to another aspect, the communication device may include a communication interface configured to send a message to a server requesting a list of call center telephone numbers via Short Message Service (SMS) or Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). The communication device may further comprise a processing unit configured to receive the list of call center telephone numbers from the server and provide the list to the user.

Additionally, the message may include a Mobile Network Code (MNC) and a Mobile Country Code (MCC) associated with the communication device.

Additionally, the message may further include an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number and phone model associated with the communication device.

Furthermore, the communication device may further comprise a user interface configured to receive a user request for a call center telephone number, wherein the message is sent to the server via SMS or WAP based on the user request.

Additionally, the communication device may further include a graphical user interface configured to provide the user with the received list of call center telephone numbers.

In addition, the call center phone number list may include at least one phone manufacturer call center phone number or network operator call center phone number.

Additionally, the communication interface may be further configured to automatically transmit the message every predetermined time period.

According to another aspect, a mobile station may include a user interface configured to receive a request for a call center telephone number from a user. The mobile station may further include a communication interface configured to send the request to a network location and receive the call center telephone number from the network location using Short Message Service (SMS) or Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).

According to another aspect, a system may include means for receiving a request for a call center telephone number from a mobile station via Short Message Service (SMS) or Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). The system may further comprise means for retrieving the call center telephone number and means for sending the call center telephone number to a mobile station.

It should be emphasized that when the term "comprises/comprises" is used in the description to specify the existence of the stated features, integers, steps, components or groups, it does not exclude the existence or addition of one or more other features, integers, or steps. , components and their groups.

Description of drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the invention and together with the description describe the invention. In the attached picture,

Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary system in which various aspects of the invention may be implemented;

Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary system incorporating a cellular network in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary mobile station in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

4 is a flow diagram of an example process for updating a call center telephone number on a mobile station in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Figure 5 is an exemplary signaling diagram between a mobile station and a server for obtaining an updated call center telephone number according to the principles of the present invention; and

6A and 6B illustrate the use of an exemplary user interface of a mobile station for obtaining an updated call center telephone number in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements. Also, the following detailed description does not limit the invention.

According to various aspects of the invention, a mobile station can use SMS or WAP to retrieve updated call center telephone numbers from remote network locations. A mobile station user (eg, a cell phone user) can thus easily access the updated call center telephone number so that the user can connect the call to the desired call center when support is required.

Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 in which various aspects of the present invention may be implemented. System 100 may include mobile station 105 connected to server 110 and call center 120 over network 115 using wireless, wired, or optical connection links. Network 115 may include one or more sub-networks using any type of multiple access medium, including local area networks (LANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs), satellite networks, cellular telephone networks, or other types of multiple access mediums/networks.

Mobile station 105 may include a telephone, a cellular radiotelephone, a Personal Communications System (PCS) terminal, or the like. A PCS terminal can incorporate data processing, facsimile and data communication functions on a cellular radiotelephone. Mobile station 105 may further include a personal digital assistant (PDA), a conventional laptop and/or palmtop receiver, or another device including a wireless telephone transceiver, or the like. A PDA may include a wireless telephone, a pager, Internet/Intranet access, a web browser, an organizer, a calendar, and/or a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. Mobile station 105 may further be referred to as a "pervasive computing" device.

Server 110 includes a server entity that can store updated call center phone numbers associated with call center 120 . Call center 120 may include a network operator call center, a telephone service provider call center, and/or a phone manufacturer (eg, Sony Ericsson) call center. In some embodiments, the functionality of server 110 may be implemented in one or more call centers 120 .

Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary system 100 implemented using a cellular network. System 100 may include mobile station 105 and another communication device 200 and cellular network 115 . Cellular network 115 may include one or more base station controllers (BSC) 205a-205b, multiple base stations (BS) 210a-210f, multiple base station antenna arrays 215a-215f, one or more mobile switching centers (MSC), such as MSC220, and one or more gateways (GW), such as GW225.

Cellular network 115 includes components conventionally used to transmit data to and from mobile stations and communication device 200 . These components may include base station antenna arrays 215a-215f, which transmit and receive data from mobile stations in their vicinity over appropriate data channels. Base stations 210a-210f are connected to their respective antenna arrays 215a-215f and format data to be transmitted to or received from antenna arrays 215a-215f according to conventional techniques for communication with BSCs 205a-205f or such as mobile The mobile station of station 105 communicates. Among other functions, BSCs 205a-205b can route received data to MSC 220 or a base station (e.g., BS 210a-210c or 210d-210f). MSC 220 routes received data to BSC 205a or 205b. GW 225 may route data received from an external domain (not shown) to an appropriate MSC (eg, MSC 220 ), or from an MSC to an appropriate external domain. Server 110 and/or call center 120 (not shown in FIG. 2 ) may be connected to cellular network 115 through MSC 220 or through another network (such as the Internet) connected to GW 225.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary mobile station 105 in accordance with the present invention. Mobile station 105 may include transceiver 305 , antenna 310 , optional equalizer 315 , optional encoder/decoder 320 , processing unit 325 , memory 330 , output device 335 , input device 340 and bus 345 .

Transceiver 305 may include transceiver circuitry known to those skilled in the art to transmit and/or receive symbol sequences via antenna 310 in a network such as network 115 . Transceiver 305 may comprise, for example, a conventional RAKE receiver. The transceiver 305 may further comprise means for estimating a signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) of the received sequence of symbols. The transceiver 305 may further comprise means for estimating the Doppler frequency of the transmission channel.

Equalizer 315 may store and implement a Viterbigram to estimate a received sequence of symbols using, for example, maximum likelihood sequence estimation techniques. Equalizer 315 may further include mechanisms to perform channel estimation.

Encoder/decoder 320 may include circuitry for decoding and/or encoding a received or transmitted sequence of symbols. The processing unit 325 may perform all data processing functions for inputting, outputting, and processing data (including data buffering) and terminal control functions, such as call processing control, user interface control, and the like. Memory 330 may provide persistent, semi-persistent, or temporary working storage for data and instructions used by processing unit 325 in performing processing functions. Memory 330 may include mass storage devices such as magnetic and/or optical recording media and their corresponding drives. Output devices 335 may include mechanisms to output data in video, audio, and/or hardcopy formats. Input device 340 allows data to be input into mobile station 105 and may include a user interface and a microphone (not shown). The microphone may include a mechanism for converting audio input into an electrical signal. The bus 345 connects the various components of the mobile terminal 105 to allow the components to communicate with each other. The configuration of the components of the mobile terminal 105 shown in FIG. 3 is merely illustrative. Those skilled in the art can realize that other configurations can also be implemented.

Exemplary Call Center Phone Number Update Process

4 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for providing and/or updating a list of call center telephone numbers maintained on mobile station 105 in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The exemplary process may begin with the mobile station 105 receiving a request from a user for a call center or updated call center telephone number (block 410). The user may wish to initiate a call to the call center of the phone manufacturer (eg Sony Ericsson) or the call center of the phone network operator. For example, a user using the mobile phone 600 shown in FIG. 6A may select "Update Call Center" from the graphical user interface 610 to request an updated call center phone number, or select "Get Call Center" if no call center information has been obtained. Number".

The mobile station 105 may send a request message to the server 110 via Short Message Service (SMS), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), or some other technique to request an updated call center telephone number (block 420). Mobile station 105 may use existing protocols related to SMS, WAP or other techniques/protocols for sending request messages. In the exemplary signaling diagram shown in FIG. 5 , the mobile station 105 may send a request message to the server 110 . The request message 510 may include a Mobile Network Code (MNC) and a Mobile Country Code (MCC) associated with the network serving the mobile station 105 . The request message 510 may further include identification information of the phone model (model number or other identifier) of the phone that sent the request message 510 . The request message 510 may further include the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number of the mobile station 105 .

The mobile station 105 may receive the list of call center telephone numbers from the server 110 via SMS, WAP, or other technology/protocol (block 430). The server 110 may in some examples retrieve a list of call center phone numbers from memory based on the MNC, MCC, phone model, and/or IMEI in the received request message 510, and then use SMS, WAP, or other technologies/protocols to to return the retrieved list of call center telephone numbers to the mobile station 105. As shown in FIG. 5, the server 110 may send the mobile station 105 a call center list 520 containing an updated list of call center telephone numbers. The list of call center phone numbers may include an updated phone number for each call center that the user of the mobile station 105 needs to call for support. For example, the list of call center phone numbers may include phone numbers for call centers of network operators, such as network operators that provide network services to users of mobile station 105 . As another example, the list of call center phone numbers may include the phone number of the manufacturer of the user's mobile station 105 .

The mobile station 105 may store a list of call center telephone numbers (block 440). In one embodiment, mobile station 105 may store a list of call center telephone numbers in memory 330 . The mobile station 105 may provide the user with a list of call center telephone numbers (block 450). An updated list of call center telephone numbers may be provided to a user of telephone 600 via graphical user interface 620 , such as in the illustrative example of FIG. 6B . The user may use the graphical user interface 620 to sequentially call one or more of the updated call center telephone numbers. In this way, the user of mobile station 105 can obtain desired information when it is needed.

in conclusion

The above description of embodiments in accordance with the principles of the invention has provided illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed. Various modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings and will be apparent from practice of the invention. For example, when a series of actions are described with reference to FIG. 4 , the order of the actions may be modified in other implementations according to the principles of the present invention. Furthermore, independent actions can be performed simultaneously. In some implementations, the mobile station 105 can be configured to periodically and automatically request updated call center information without requiring the user to request. In this manner, the mobile station 105 will always have the latest call center information.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles of the present invention can be applied to any wired or wireless system using any type of multiple access scheme, such as TDMA, CDMA or FDMA. It should be further understood that the principles of the present invention may be applied to a hybrid system, where the hybrid system is a combination of two or more of the multiple access schemes described above. Furthermore, a communication device according to the invention can be designed, for example, to communicate with a base transceiver station using any standard based on GSM, TDMA, CDMA, FDMA or a mixture of these standards, as well as any other standard.

Aspects of the invention can also be implemented in methods and/or computer program products. Accordingly, the present invention can be implemented in hardware and/or software (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.). In addition, the present invention can also take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium, wherein the storage medium has a computer-usable or computer-readable program code embedded in the medium, so that the instructions Used by or in conjunction with an execution system. The actual software code or specific control hardware used to implement various embodiments consistent with principles of the invention is not limiting of the invention. Thus, although the operation and performance of various aspects have not been described with reference to specific software code - it should be understood that those skilled in the art, based on the description herein, can design software and control hardware to implement various embodiments of the invention.

Additionally, certain portions of the invention may be implemented as "logic" that performs one or more functions. The logic may comprise hardware, such as an application specific integrated circuit or field programmable gate array, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

No element, act or instruction used in the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly stated otherwise. And, as used herein, the article "a" is meant to comprise one or more items. Where only one is indicated, the term "one" or similar language is used. Furthermore, the expression "based on" means "based at least in part on" unless expressly stated otherwise.

Claims (10)

1. A method for providing a call center telephone number comprising: receive user requests to update call center phone numbers, based on the user request, sending a message from the phone to the server over the network requesting a list of call center numbers, wherein the call center phone numbers are associated with the call center, wherein the call center includes at least one of a network operator call center, a telephone service provider call center, or a telephone manufacturer call center, and Wherein the message includes a Mobile Network Code MNC and a Mobile Country Code MCC associated with the network serving the phone, and at least one of an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number or model number associated with the phone; receiving a call center telephone number list from the server via Short Message Service SMS or Wireless Application Protocol WAP; and Provide this list to the user. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is sent from the phone to the server via SMS or WAP. 3. A method for providing a call center telephone number comprising: store phone numbers associated with call centres, Wherein the call center includes at least one of a network operator call center, a telephone service provider call center, or a telephone manufacturer call center; A request for a call center telephone number is received from a mobile station, wherein the request for a call center telephone number includes the Mobile Network Code MNC and the Mobile Country Code MCC associated with the network serving the mobile station, and the International Network Code associated with the mobile station. The mobile device identifies at least one of the IMEI number or model number; Retrieving the call center telephone number from stored telephone numbers based on one or more of said MNC, MCC, IMEI number, or model number; and Send the phone number of the call center to the mobile station through the short message service SMS or the wireless application protocol WAP. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the request for the call center telephone number is received from the mobile station via SMS or WAP. the 5. A communication device comprising: The communication interface is configured to send a message requesting a call center phone number list to the server through the short message service SMS or the wireless application protocol WAP, wherein the call center phone number is related to the call center, and the call center includes a network operator call center, at least one of a telephone service provider call center, or a telephone manufacturer call center, and wherein the message includes at least one of a mobile-related code associated with the network serving the communications device, an International Mobile Equipment Identity MEI number or a model number associated with the communications device; and processing unit, configured to: receiving a list of call center phone numbers from the server; and Provide this list to the user. 6. The device of claim 5, further comprising: a user interface configured to receive user requests for call center telephone numbers, Wherein based on the user request, the message is sent to the server via SMS or WAP. 7. The device of claim 5, wherein the communication interface is further configured to automatically transmit the message every predetermined time period. 8. The device of claim 5, wherein mobile related codes include a mobile network code (MNC) and a mobile country code (MCC) associated with a network serving the communications device. 9. A communication system comprising: means for storing telephone numbers associated with call centres, Wherein the call center includes at least one of a network operator call center, a telephone service provider call center, or a telephone manufacturer call center; Means for receiving a request for a call center telephone number from a mobile station via Short Message Service SMS or Wireless Application Protocol WAP, wherein the request includes at least one of a mobile-related code associated with the network serving the mobile station, an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number or model number associated with the mobile station; means for retrieving the call center telephone number from stored telephone numbers based on one or more of said mobile associated code, IMEI number or model number; and Means for sending the call center telephone number to a mobile station. 10. A communication system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the mobile associated codes comprise a Mobile Network Code (MNC) and a Mobile Country Code (MCC) associated with the network serving said mobile station. the

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